Five things to know today, Feb. 28: Bob Woodward, of Watergate fame, is accusing the White House of threatening him; Steven Spielberg to head Cannes jury; Pope Benedict XVI leaves the Vatican and Republicans pick convicted felon to run for former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s seat.

1. BENEDICT XVI LEAVES THE VATICAN

Pope Benedict XVI spent his last night in the Vatican apartment he’s lived in for the past eight years on Wednesday night. After saying goodbye to the Cardinals at about 1 p.m. local time, he will depart by helicopter to the Vatican retreat Castle Gandolf, ABC News reports.

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2. BOB WOODWARD FEUDS WITH THE WHITE HOUSE ON BUDGET CUTS

Veteran Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, claims that the White House threatened him over a recent story in which he questioned President Obama’s account of how the sequester came to be. Buzzfeed reports that that official is Gene Sperling, who heads the White House Economic Council. Woodward said the official “yelled at me for about a half hour.” The official then followed up with an email apologizing, and said, “You’re focusing on a few specific trees that give a very wrong impression of the forest…. I think you will regret staking out that claim.” Um, one problem. Politico obtained the chain of emails and Bob Woodward didn’t make a big deal out of the so-called threat.

Politico — Woodward to Sperling: You do not ever have to apologize to me. You get wound up because you are making your points and you believe them. This is all part of a serious discussion. I for one welcome a little heat; there should more given the importance. I also welcome your personal advice. I am listening. I know you lived all this. My partial advantage is that I talked extensively with all involved. I am traveling and will try to reach you after 3 pm today. Best, Bobmaking a big deal out of the kind of heated exchange that occurs frequently in Washington.

Of course, when it involves President Obama, any disagreement is magnified 100 times over. [Politico]

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3. U.S. TO PROVIDE FOOD, MEDICINE ONLY TO SYRIAN REBELS
Secretary of State John Kerry said that the Obama administration had decided to send aid such as food and medical supplies directly to Syrian rebels for the first time. He said the U.S. would more than double its assistance to the Syrian opposition, giving it an extra $60 million. This is disappointing to some opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who had hoped they would receive arms. [Reuters]

Thanks to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, is on the verge of declaring racism is over in the U.S. The court is hearing arguments in a case brought by Bert Rein, the attorney who is challenging preclearance clause in the the Voting Rights Act on behalf of Shelby Count. He maintains that preclearance is no longer needed. “That problem is solved.”

Mother Jones: “That’s not to say all discrimination is a thing of the past. In the eyes of the high court’s conservatives, America has transcended its tragic history of disenfranchising minorities, but there’s still one kind of discrimination that matters: Discrimination against the states covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Justice Antonin Scalia said that it was “sort of extraordinary to say” that “Congress can just pick out…these eight states,” referring to the states covered by Section 5.”

“Later, Scalia telegraphed his reasoning for what will almost certainly be a vote to strike down part of the law. Explaining overwhelming support for the Voting Rights Act reauthorization in Congress in 2006, Scalia called Section 5 the “perpetuation of a racial entitlement” that legislators would never have the courage to overturn. “In the House there are practically black districts by law now,” Scalia complained. (In Mississippi, a state which Roberts would later cite as a paradise of racial enlightenment, state lawmakers in the early 1990s referred to these as “n*gger districts.”)”

The GOP is truly the party of double standards. Republican voters picked convicted felon Paul McKinley as their nominee to run for the seat recently vacated by former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Paul McKinley, who served nearly 20 years in state prison for burglaries, armed robberies and aggravated battery, beat businessman Eric Wallace (R) by 23 votes.